THE BIGGS FAMILY: 2011

Summer of 2011 gone by!! And what a great summer it has been. Here are a TON of pictures, in no particular order, with a few things we did this summer .....

The first several pictures are actually from the very end of summer at a family BBQ up the canyon by Hope's house in Nephi. We try to get the whole family together at least once a month when we can and have dinner and hang out. Hope had a great idea to head up the canyon to BBQ and roast marshmellows! Always great to be together as a family :) We actually got a group family picture, Valerie is going to send it to me, aren't you Val!!!

Banana/Zucchini bread! MMMMM! Made with whole wheat flour, honey instead of sugar, applesauce instead of oil. Delish!

Veggie tacos with garden veggies! Beautiful isn't it?!

So I love to cook/bake if you can't tell already! One of my goals this year was to make my own pizza from scratch. Well I finally did it in September and it turned out great! Whole wheat pizza dough with veggies from the garden! Can't wait to try making it again! Made my own sauce from garden tomatoes and all. Yumm!

Grace started Kindergarten!!! Eeeek!!! Such a smart and beautiful little girl. I pack her breakfast and send her to the cafeteria every morning before school. Its been good for her, she's made some new friends outside of her classroom this way! And Mom gets to work on time :)

Yellow watermelon that Kyle grew in our garden this year!

Sooooo Grace taught herself how to tie a shoe! She came out of her room and said look, I can tie my shoe!!! Smart little stink!

We took a day and drove up to Preston, ID to see Kyle's Dad Randy, and Grandma June. We made them lunch and visited for a few hours. Grandma tried her 1st avocado at age 93! And, she didn't really like it! LOL! It actually took me trying them several times before I liked them. Now they are a staple at my house! Anyway, I really love the drive up there through Sardine Canyon and Logan! So pretty!

This was a day at the zoo with the Hartleys! Jax, Grace & Kohen

Kyle and I went to Atlanta, GA so that I could attend a conference for work. They had vendors that sponsered different events, such as this, and it was a lot of fun! Here is Kyle, seeing how fast he could pitch a ball @ the Braves Stadium :)

Girls night out to see The Band Perry, Luke Bryan & Tim McGraw! So much fun!! Shawna, me, Britan, Amanda & Hope!

Rawrrrrrr!!!!! Took the kids to the dinosaur thang at Thanksgiving Point! Way cool!

Little Miss Tatum Hyatt @ the Nephi Derby! We experienced quite the crazy little (or I should say big) dust storm that night! It rained and the wind blew, but we toughed it out!

I have been trying to do things a little more healthy at our house, so this is ice cream night: coconut milk, frozen bananas & strawberries in the blender! YUMM!!

Date night with my handsome hubby! We definetely don't get enough of these! Although Kyle isn't a huge sushi fan, he was all for going to get some with me. Love my hunnie!

Kohen is such an outside kid! Both my kids are. Having fun on the swings!

Kohen with his green smoothie, enjoying a hot summer day outside!

Oh yes, let the fun begin!!!! He is actually doing so so good and telling us when he needs to go now, not perfect yet, but really good :)

Kohen and a banana pepper, straight from the garden!! I picked a bunch for dinner and he wanted one, so I gave him one!

My little man being oh so cute!!! And oh how he loves his flip flops!!

Kohen @ the Nephi derby! He loved to watch the cars crash!

My cute lil cowboy in Daddy's boots! He found them laying around and decided to try them on. I couldn't resist getting out the hat and taking a picture!

Kohen @ a little family BBQ, cake for his birthday! We had to re-light the candles at least 5 times before we got through the Happy Birthday song!!! Kohen realllly likes to blow out the candles :) And look how cute my Gracie is!

We have had tons of fun playing outside this summer! Bikes, trikes, scooters, wagon, jeep, walks & more!

We took Kohen to Red Mango for a birthday treat! Grandpa came with too :)

The kids riding some ponies at a little fair by my house.

We took a drive up the Mirror Lake Hwy one day, it was so pretty! There was still tons and tons of snow when you got up twords the actual lake, it was crazy!

This was on a camping trip we took with Kyle's family to Strawberry Reservoir. The bugs were TERRIBLE at the campground, but they weren't kicking around the lake thank goodness! Didn't catch any fish, but they tried! Love this picture!

Another picture from Strawberry, playing in the boat :)

Kohen & Jackie, the kids 2nd Mommy! Jackie is a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!! We love her so much, she has taken care of our kids since Grace was about 6 months old. This was at a end of summer party that she threw with a few other daycares. They did lunch and had a huge blow up bounce house and slide/pool, and face painting. So much fun!!

Grace & Jackie!

My beautiful sister Hope and her BFF Ruthanne!

I decided to try and grow my own greens, since I have been doing green smoothies so much. And actually all credit goes to Kyle! He grew me chard, kale, beet greens, arugula, lettuce and tons of other stuff! I will have to post some pictures of what we have grown this year!

Visiting with my sweet Grandma Bea!

Grace graduated from her 2nd year of pre-school, end of Spring!

Summer time naps are the best!

Grace and I had a girls day. Went to lunch, got her ears peirced!!!! and went school shopping up at the Park City Outlets!

Grace and Addi hanging out in Nephi!

This was the beginning of spring, kinda cold that day, but that didn't stop us from hitting up a fishing hole!

I decided to stop ordering from Bountiful Baskets for part of the summer and try out all of the different Farmers Markets. We were starting to get veggies from our own garden, so it just made sense. This is what I got at the South Jordan Farmers Market. Aloe Vera plant, cherries, green beans, peaches and plums! Loved supporting the local farmers and seeing what they had to offer. We have also been to the one at Wheeler Farm, Sugarhouse and down town. I still need to check out the Murray Park one!

Some of the family at my house for a BBQ

This was our Strawberry camping trip, the kids were catching tons of craw-dads, or whatever you call them! Ewwww! They did cook them that evening. I could NOT try them after watching them crawl around all day. Blehh!

Teyah, Grace, Violet, Kohen and Breanne all enjoying a green smoothie :) Little did they know, they were drinking spinach with that fruit!!! Well, Breanne mighta figured it out!

Cousins being silly and having fun!

YUMMY healthy shake! I don't normally use cows milk, but its all I had. I usually use almond milk or coconut milk. Anyway, add maca powder, cacao powder, peanut butter, banana and ice and you've got a delish shake! :)

My new car!!!!! It was finally time to part with my Pathfinder AKA Poofinder (Poof for short)! I bought the Poof when I was 18, so I drove it for 13 long years! Long time right?! Hopefully my new Ford Fusion lasts just as long! It ranked #1 in its class for the year I bought (2010) so I was thrilled to purchase it. Soooo nice to drive something that isn't on its last leg! Great family car.

Green smoothies! I LOVE THEM! I have been reading every book I can get my hands on about greens, health and raw foods, etc. Also attending classes. Trying to get rid of the candy/junk food in my families life and say hello to fruits, veggies, greens, nuts, seeds, legumes, grains a little bit more! Currently reading 12 Steps to Whole Foods by Robyn Openshaw. LOVE HER! Please visit her web site if you are interested because its great! She has videos, a blog, and a ton of great information: http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/ Oh and I did upgrade to a BlendTech Total Blender and I love it!!! I use my blender every single day, so it was very much worth the investment. I make Kyle and I a green smoothie every morning to take to work. The kids enjoy them too! Fruits, greens and veggies, gotta love them!

This was a camping trip we took up to Idaho at Birchcreek with a friend from work. Soooo much fun! And it was so nice that the creek was shallow and calm so you could cool off and fish if you wanted to!